IBM recently unveiled IBM MobileFirst, the most
comprehensive mobile portfolio that combines security, analytics and app
development software, with cloud-based services and deep mobile expertise.
Using IBM MobileFirst solutions, businesses can now streamline everything from
the management of employee mobile devices, to the creation of a new mobile commerce
app that will transform their entire business model.

This move by IBM builds off
of its experience helping nearly 1,000 customers become mobile enterprises, and
takes advantage of its thousands of mobile experts and 270 patents in wireless
innovations. Additionally, IBM has made 10 mobile-related acquisitions in the
past four years alone.

IBM is also announcing an
expanded relationship with AT&T to provide developers with tools to create
faster, richer mobile apps and services for customers. For instance,
organizations can now quickly incorporate payment and messages into their
apps.

“To date, mobile computing
has been dominated by discussions of new smartphones, operating systems, games
and apps,” said Robert LeBlanc, senior vice president,
middleware software, IBM. “But enterprises have yet to tap into the potential
of mobile business. Just as the Internet transformed the way we bank, book
vacations and manage our healthcare, mobile computing is also transforming
industries. As these devices become ingrained in everything that we do,
businesses are now in the palms of their customers’ hands. IBM MobileFirst is
designed to make the transformation to becoming a mobile enterprise a reality.”

IBM recently announced it
has completed the acquisition of StoredIQ, a privately held company based in Austin, Texas.

The acquisition advances
IBM’s efforts to help clients derive value from big data, respond more
efficiently to litigation and regulations, and dispose of information in an
automated way that has outlived its purpose.

IBM estimates that 2.5
quintillion bytes of data are created every day -- so much that 90 percent of
the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone. As a
result, chief information officers (CIOs) and general counsels (GCs) are
overwhelmed by volumes of information that exceed their tax IT budgets and
their capacity to meet legal requirements. Storing old, unnecessary data adds
storage and infrastructure costs and compromises companies’ ability to effectively
comply with legal obligations.

Adding StoredIQ to IBM’s big
data offerings gives organizations tools for more effective governance of the
vast majority of information, including its timely disposal to eliminate
unnecessary data that consumes infrastructure and elevates risk. The addition
of StoredIQ builds on IBM's prior acquisitions of PSS Systems and Vivisimo as
well as organic solutions that improve information economics including
value-based archiving, records and retention management, ediscovery management,
and disposal and data governance.

New Technologies Enable Organizations Such as the New York Stock Exchange
and the Nielsen Company to Manage and Analyze Enormous Volumes of Data

Making it easier for organizations to quickly adopt
and deploy big data and cloud computing solutions, IBM recently announced major
advances to its PureSystems family of expert integrated systems.

Now, organizations
challenged by limited IT skills and resources can quickly comb through massive
volumes of data and uncover critical trends that can dramatically impact their
business. The new PureSystems models also help to remove the complexity of
developing cloud-based services by making it easier to provision, deploy and
manage a secure cloud environment. Together, these moves by IBM further extend
its leadership in big data and next generation computing environments such as
cloud computing, while opening up new opportunities within growth markets and
with organizations such as managed service providers (MSPs).

Across all industries and
geographies, organizations of various sizes are being challenged to find
simpler and faster ways to analyze massive amounts of data and better meet
client needs. According to IDC, the market for big data technology and services
will reach $16.9 billion by 2015, up from $3.2 billion in 2010.1 At the same
time, an IBM study found that almost three-fourths of leaders surveyed
indicated their companies had piloted, adopted or substantially implemented
cloud in their organizations – and 90 percent expect to have done so in three
years.2 While the demand is high, many organizations do not have the resources
or skills to embrace it.

These news includes PureData
System for Analytics to capitalize on big data opportunities; a smaller
PureApplication System to accelerate cloud deployments for a broader range of
organizations; PureApplication System on POWER7+ to ease management of
transaction and analytics applications in the cloud; additional options for
MSPs across the PureSystems family including flexible financing options and
specific MSP Editions to support new services models; and SmartCloud Desktop
Infrastructure to ease management of virtual desktop solutions.

IBM recently announced a
definitive agreement to acquire the software portfolio of Star Analytics Inc.,
a privately held business analytics company headquartered in Redwood City, California.
Financial terms were not disclosed.

The combination of IBM and
Star Analytics software will further advance IBM's business analytics
initiatives, allowing organizations to gain faster access and real-time insight
into specialized data sources. With growing challenges in gaining a more
complete view into varying types of data, companies are increasingly looking
for ways to automate and provide business users with self-service access to
critical information.

Star Analytics software
addresses a rising challenge for organizations -- helping to automatically
integrate essential information, reporting applications and business
intelligence tools across their enterprises, on premise or from cloud computing
environments. The software removes typical custom coding for specialized
sources that is hard to maintain. It also eliminates manual
processes that are cumbersome and time consuming.

Advanced attacks, widespread
fraud and the pervasive use of social media, mobile and cloud computing are
drastically altering the security landscape. As organizations increasingly need
to manage Big Data, the way that corporate data needs to be protected is
rapidly changing.

To aid in the detection of
stealthy threats that can hide in the increasing mounds of data, IBM recently
announced IBM Security Intelligence with Big Data, combining leading security
intelligence with big data analytics capabilities for both external cyber
security threats and internal risk detection and prevention. IBM Security
Intelligence with Big Data provides a comprehensive approach that allows
security analysts to extend their analysis well beyond typical security data
and to hunt for malicious cyber activity.